


The Good Alpha

by cannibalisticshadows



Series: The Alpha [1]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Alpha Rumplestiltskin | Mr. Gold, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Animalistic Behavior, F/M, Knotting, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Older Man/Younger Woman, Omega Belle (Once Upon a Time), Omega Verse, Scent Marking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-07
Updated: 2018-02-15
Packaged: 2019-03-13 21:24:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13579212
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cannibalisticshadows/pseuds/cannibalisticshadows
Summary: "It is a curious thought, but it is only when you see people looking ridiculous that you realize just how much you love them."- Agatha Christie





	1. Part I

**Author's Note:**

> Forgive me, but I couldn't stop myself...

At the mere age of twenty-two, Belle had officially decided to commit herself to a life of spinsterhood. By being a con-artist. 

It begun the day she ended things with Gary Gaston, her pre-assigned “mate”. 

“No!” He shouted, throwing himself in front of her, squeezing himself between Belle and the door. “I demand you stay! As your alpha, I—“

“You _what_ , Gary?” Belle cried out in passion as she slung her backpack, full of the few meager possessions she could rightfully claim, over her shoulder. Her body shook with a storm of feelings. “You order me? You don’t have that kind of sway over me!”

“Yes I do!” The hulking alpha growled, his pheromones fuming the air like a poisonous gas, and Belle cringed at it. Though her natural submissive DNA wished to bow down in surrender, it would only a tiny part compared to the hate she had for Gary’s emotionally abusive, over-controlling ass. “I own you, bitch! I bought you from the System!”

Glaring, Belle tried to maneuver around him while fishing out her phone. “If you don’t step away right this second, I swear to God I’ll call them and report you.” 

But Belle’s threat was useless. Gary did buy her from the System for a rather high price—and her, being a young, fertile omega, small in size, and physically appealing, utterly useless compared to the voice of a respected, well-known alpha cop. As far as the System knew, Gary was the perfect candidate to be her mate. Belle could show them proof of him being abusive and they’d probably brush it aside as clumsiness. 

He smiled sadistically, like a mad dog cornering a quivering, helpless rabbit. 

Seeing she was beat, physically useless against an Alpha twice her size, Belle flung herself away from him and grappled with her purse. He pursued her eagerly. Snarling like an animal, he lunged for her being, intent to do harm shining in his eyes. 

Yet Belle was quicker. With a few, shaking moments, she’d pulled out her Taser and aimed it at him. 

He howled in pain, shaking uncontrollably as he collapsed to the floor in pain. Belle saw him vulnerable, saw him beat, and didn’t take another second to hesitate. She jumped over him, yanked the door open, and vanished into the night.

~.~.~

Three years later Belle was a new person. She had moved as far as possible from Gary Gaston and the System of her state. She changed her name, finished her Bachelor’s in the Library Sciences, and most importantly, changed her status in society.

Granted, she could not really change her omega ways. That was impossible. But there were special soaps and suppressants, and ways to avoid even the most confident of alphas. There were people, seen as criminals and con-artists in the eyes of the law, that could provide her with the things she needed to conceal her omega-ness. So she did all that and more. She stuck close to betas. She avoided staying in the spotlight. Most importantly, she avoided alphas.

It wasn’t that she hated alphas. In fact, Belle had quite a healthy appreciation for the male alpha. But the fact that every alpha she met was so controlling, so possessive, repulsed her so much that she gave up on finding a True Mate. Long before hiding her true hierarchy, every alpha looked at her like she was a piece of meat. A prize. A thing to be owned, to be controlled.

Hiding herself in plain sight, though illegal, was one of the best decisions she’d ever made. 

On a bright, sunny January morning, Belle hopped out of the shower smelling of sharp odor-concealing soup. She took her suppressants and dressed as modestly as possible, and put her hair in a simple braid.

The young woman stood in front of her mirror. Taking a deep breath in, she let it out with a determined sigh. Today was her first day as Storybrooke’s librarian. The only librarian.

Storybrooke was such a small town that everybody seemed to know everybody. People were close and well-involved in their neighbour’s lives, that the slightest event out-of-the-ordinary shook ripples throughout the whole area. Even the mayor, a haughty Alpha named Regina Mills, seemed to know everything that happened in her town.

Belle picked up her purse from the little table in front before stepping into her two-inch heels. Smiling at herself and at nothing in general, she swept out of her B&B room for breakfast in the diner.

Granny’s was a homey place; a popular hangout for several of Storybrooke’s inhabitants. Upon entering the very first time Belle was hit with the charming atmosphere of the small diner. It was clear the people knew each other very well. Well enough, that some of them looked at Belle with suspicion.

Belle ignored that thought and entered the diner with a bright smile on her face. A quick, precautious sniff told her there were a few alphas present besides the common beta. But to her pleasant surprise, there was one other omega. It was a woman sitting at one of the tables, laughing sweetly with her bond-mate, a blonde alpha with a faint yet steady pheromone. Between them, sitting in a high chair, was a bubbling baby with wide, grabby hands. It wasn’t as if Belle hadn’t met another omega before—it was just unusual to see one so open and free, without the constant stare of other alphas, or her mate being overly aggressive to others.

They seemed very nice. The place seemed very nice.

“Hiya Lacey,” greeted the waitress, Ruby.

Ruby was one of the first people Belle had met upon her arrival to Storybrooke; Ruby was an energetic, friendly alpha that welcomed her warmly into Granny’s. Speaking of “Granny”, the old woman who ran the place was indeed Ruby’s grandmother: an old alpha matriarch with a fiery personality to rival her granddaughter’s. Belle wasn’t sure how two alphas could live together with such ease, both being grown, but the frequent arguments between them said it wasn’t so at-ease after all.

“Good morning!” Belle greeted back, taking a seat at the bar. “How are you?”

“Meh,” the other girl shrugged, “I’ve seen better days.”

Belle’s lips quirked up into an amused smirk. “It’s not even eight o’clock yet.”

“Exactly,” Ruby growled to herself, turning around to start the coffee machine. “It’s rent day. 

“Rent day?” 

Granny came waddling around the corner of the kitchen. Approaching the two while drying a freshly washed mug with an off-white hand towel, she groused, “Rent day. Means that filthy rich son of a bitch will be slithering in here like the snake he is.”

Belle’s eyebrows pinched together. Just speaking of this supposed terrible person, the two alphas let out rather angry scents. She didn’t let it get to her. “Who?”

“Mr. Gold, that’s who,” Ruby explained, pouring a cup of pungent coffee into the same mug Granny had cleaned. “He’s the mean old alpha who runs this town.”

Belle’s mind went to the mayor. “I thought the mayor…?”

“No, no,” Granny interrupted, shaking her head. “Mr. Gold doesn’t run it. He owns it. May God have mercy if he and the mayor get into a fight.”

This Mr. Gold sounded like a pure tyrant of an alpha. Belle shivered, but tried with all her might to ignore it. Betas didn’t quake with just a mention of a powerful alpha. Huffing, she turned her attention to the mug of coffee Ruby slid to her. She added cream and sugar to her liking with a quite attitude, and watched Ruby and her grandmother tend to the other patrons. 

After Belle finished her morning cup of caffeine, she paid the small sum of money to the two female alphas before heading on her way to the library. She politely declined Ruby’s offer of a breakfast muffin. 

To be honest, Belle didn’t want to be around this mega-bully-alpha, as the Lucus’s described him. Secondly it was close to her monthly cycle. 

Even on suppressants it was hard to ignore an angry alpha’s pheromones. 

An omega’s heat cycle lasted around two to three days, acting like a periods for a beta woman. Heats didn’t last nearly as long as menses, but the aftermath—as well as the heat itself—was a bitch in and of itself. 

Belle shook her head. No. She would not let any alpha try to dominate her by being a bully. 

~.~.~.~

“Oh, Mr. Gold’s the worst,” Mary Margret told her over a steaming cup of tea during Belle’s Monday lunch break. The raven-haired omega was a timid woman, with a meek persona that reminded Belle of most other omegas, especially the pale, timid ones in the System. However, Mary Margret’s persona didn’t end there. Belle was shockingly pleased to see the woman had a tough backbone to her, though rarely was there a good chance for her to show it. Her husband, David Nolan, was among the handful of Storybrooke’s colorful alphas. 

It wasn’t that alphas were rare—they weren’t nearly as rare as omegas—but not as common as the “normal” person. Betas, as anyone “un-normal” called them. Simply enough the term stuck and was applied to every individual who wasn’t cursed with the A or O gene.

“I’ve heard as such,” Belle admitted, taking a sip of her wonderfully warm drink. “But why?”

“He’s a bully, for one,” her raven-haired companion said. She shot her eyes over towards the rest of the library, where there was no one but them and a few readers. Belle’s eyes followed Mary Margret’s, but she saw nothing to cause anxiety over. “And,” the other woman added, leaning closer to Belle, “he’s the fiercest alpha you’ll ever meet.”

“I think I’ll know for myself, once I meet this man.”

Mary Margret shook her head, looking miserable. “As a beta, I’m sure you can’t really understand. He’s just—“ she gulped, “he could walk into a room of the world’s toughest men and force them all into submission. With just his _scent_.” 

Belle kept her mouth shut. Yes, they all thought she was a beta. It would stay that way, she was sure of it. But with an alpha as supposedly influencing as The Beast (as the townsfolk called him), any omega would want to wallow in surrender. 

She nodded to her companion, but mentally told herself to keep a distance between any unknown male alpha. It would be best if she stayed away from this Mr. Gold.

 

~.~.~.~

A week later, and officially moved into her new apartment above the library, Belle was feeling quite free.

All of her things (though meager) had been unboxed and put away in their rightful place. A hand-me-down couch, scavenged from the Nolan’s storage of unneeded things, a roughly built bookshelf, and a rickety dinning room table. Other than that, she had a simple fridge and washer-and-dryer, but her flat was overall fairly small and empty. She intended to change that.

Before she begun her day at the library, Belle made a quick dash out the door to go to Granny’s where she bought her morning coffee and a muffin. 

It was a bright, sunny day out, and birds sung brightly in the swaying trees. Belle smiled and raised her eye to spy on one grayish, brownish pigeon bobbing around in the grass. Taking a sip of her coffee, she took a seat at a bench and reached into her little brown take-out bag. Belle pinched off a piece of her muffin and tossed it to the bird. It saw it instantly, and flew excitedly to the crumb.

“They’re rats with wings, you know.”

Belle’s head swiveled to the side, surprise lighting up her face. 

A man had approached her as silently as an apparition. Her senses hadn’t even picked up on his scent, but then again, it was windy out and Belle’s focus was on the birds. 

He was an older gentleman, dressed impeccably well in sharp charcoal suit. Soft graying hair framed his face, longer than normal, but it seemed to fit him well. The man had a sharp face with a clean shave. When he tilted his head to the side, it looked as if he carried himself like an ancient being. Yet he didn’t physically look ancient. He seemed to be in his late fourties or early fifties.

But he did have a cane.

“Oh, um, well, it’s only a few crumbs for one bird—“ Belle turned back to her pigeon, but found a whole flock had come to settle on the grass, watching her intently. “Oh.”

“Oh, indeed,” said the man, stepping closer to her side. His cane clicked the ground rhythmically, slowly. “You’re Ms. Bellerose, correct?”

Belle felt herself flush. “Yes, sir. But please, call me Lacey.” She rose up from the bench and approached him, stretching out her hand to shake his.

His sable eyes narrowed to study her over—not in a perverse way, or to see if she was either a threat or below him, much to Belle’s silent admiration. And Belle was relaxed by this, for when he was but a foot or two away she could smell the faint, woolly scent of him tinted with a metallic-ness she couldn’t quite place. When the winds suddenly chanced to face her, bringing his scent right to her, she smelled the fainted trace of an alpha. But it was faint, and she wondered if he was either a cool-headed alpha, or a beta who’d been around a lot of alphas. Even if she couldn’t tell if he was an alpha or a beta, she detected no aggression from him.

The man gave a small, tight-lipped smile and grasped her hand in a steady, strong grip, with long slender fingers that tickled her hand with internal sparks. “Lovely name.” His gaze went over her head into the direction of town. “I’ve heard your presence in the library has done a great deal of good,” he commented, letting go of her. Curiously enough, Belle shivered the moment they split apart.

Yet she smiled at him, pleased by the compliment. “Thank you, mister…” He wasn’t quite a full head taller than her. She didn’t have to strain her neck to just look at him face-to-face. But then she pressed her lips together. “I’m sorry, I don’t believe I got your name?”

He hummed ruefully, adjusting his grip the gold handle of his cane. The man stepped around her, eyes to the sky with a small, knowing smile on his face as if he knew something she didn’t. That nobody but him knew.

“I’m Mr. Gold, dearie.”

~.~.~.~ 

Belle didn’t understand why the whole town practically squealed like frightened piglets at the mention of Mr. Gold’s name. Granted she only had that one encounter with him in the park, but who she met that day was no mega-dominating alpha. If anything he was calm and cool, with a fascinating persona that entranced Belle on sight. 

The young woman shook her head. The last thing she needed was to become besotted with an alpha. If anyone found out that she was passing as a beta when she really wasn’t one, Belle would likely be thrown in prison. If Gary still didn’t have his claim on her, that is.

It was five days after the encounter in the park that Belle ran into Mr. Gold again.

She was buying a pack of nails for a loose shelf when the feared landlord of Storybrooke decided to do some shopping as well. Belle was strolling down the aisle in the hardware section to find what she needed. There were several options, all tempting, but she wanted the best price she could get. Money didn’t grow off trees, after all.

Just when she was picking up the least-expensive pack of nails did a sudden, steady tap-tap-taping sound catch her attention. Her eyes rose in light wariness; nostrils flared to scent the air. 

Mr. Gold stood just several feet away. “Ms. Bellerose,” he said in a light greeting. His attention, however, was pinned by a display of duck-tape.

“Mr. Gold.”

His sable gaze met hers after what felt like a year. “If you’re going for something sturdy, I suggest another brand.”

Belle, only briefly confused, looked down to what she was holding to her chest. “I beg your pardon?”

“Those are poorly,” he said, mildly, gesturing toward her pack with his eyes. “Go with something else.”

“Are all pawnbrokers experts in nails? Or do you truly dictate everyone’s pocketbook?”

Mr. Gold’s eyes shot up to hers, but his whole body went still once he folded both kid-gloved hands over the handle of his cane. Naturally Belle imagined that she’d angered him, and her omega instincts screamed to lower her head to show regret. However the alpha didn’t get angry.

He laughed.

“I do believe,” he said, smiling wide enough that she could see his crooked, perfectly imperfect teeth, “you are the bravest young woman I’ve had the pleasure of meeting.” 

Belle’s face flushed, but she turned her head away—not down!—to hide it with her hair. She made to look as if she were studying the other nail packs. Taking a deep breath, she looked back to him. Mr. Gold had turned back to the tape, but he went as far as actually choosing something. It looked expensive.

She couldn’t help but ask, “Why is everyone afraid of you?”

Mr. Gold blinked once, staring calmly at something on a shelf. “They know me. In time you will as well.”

“Is that suppose to scare me?”

“Maybe. Maybe not.” He turned his gaze back to hers. “Does it?”

Belle squinted at him. If he truly was an alpha, he wasn’t letting out any pheromones to prove her wrong. Then again, she was posing as a beta, so it technically wouldn’t matter if he did or not.

“No. I’m just curious.”

“Ooh, that’s the worst. Killed the cat, you know.”

“But satisfaction brought it back.”

He let out a load, forced sigh. “That’s a rather optimistic view, dearie, but believe what you wish to believe.”

“I will. Thank you.”

Again, her cheerfully brash attitude seemed to amuse him deeply. He smiled at her, looked her up in down in the most platonic way, and said with a farewell nod, “Until we meet again, Ms. Bellerose.”

“It’s Lacey,” she said softly, but Mr. Gold was already gone.

~.~.~.~

A week later Belle found herself leaving her library after a long work day. It had been a hectic week of several visitors, and the mayor had come in to throw her pheromones around like a spraying skunk. She was angry due to reasons unknown to Belle, but the mayor decided to let it out on her. Belle didn’t have anything against Regina, but the woman was either in the middle of a rut or lost some conflict with another alpha and decided to reestablish territory somewhere else—like the library. It scared off most of her alpha visitors, causing unfortunate betas to bear the brunt of their agitation. One alpha, a blonde man called Victor, had actually tried to indirectly mark her in his just to piss the head alpha off. Regina, not having left yet, either pitied Belle’s vulnerable situation, or wished to show her dominance, went into a whole stare-down with Victor right in the library.

Regina then promptly rubbed her cheek against Belle’s, claiming the librarian as hers. 

Alphas didn’t necessarily mark others for sexual reasons—sometimes they did it to show others who were under their control. Regina saw it fit to put her scent on Belle before snarling at the surrendered alphas and take off in a fashionable storm of fury. With her gone, the remaining alphas spewed pissed and vinegar all day.

Now Belle had alpha-scent _everywhere._ It soaked her poor library, making Belle all too happy to close up that day. She didn’t go home right away, though. She didn’t want to get the alphas’ pheromones in her flat. Her flat was where she felt safest, it being her place, and having alpha-smells there would rub her feathers the wrong way.

So she went on a walk. Not entirely surprising, she found herself approaching Mr. Gold’s Pawn. 

Though she didn’t want to really be around an alpha at the moment, and Mary Margret was busy with her family (it was near dinner-time, after all), there was not many options for her at the moment. Mr. Gold never treated her as something to be put under his shoe. Plus he was fascinating.

The bell above the door rung brightly as she entered. Belle’s blue eyes flickered around as she studied the store, absorbing the wondrous sights in like a sponge in water.

It looked more like an antique shop than a pawnshop. 

“I’m closed, dearie,” growled someone in the back, hidden in a backroom closed-off with a curtain. “Unless you have something of value our business is through.”

If it was Mr. Gold speaking, she had a hard time believing it. The voice that spoke to her was cruel and controlling. The voice of a real alpha, not her curious, calm, collected Mr. Gold.

“Mr. Gold?” 

Something fell over in the back. Quickly, as if she’d yelled, _“Fire!”,_ Mr. Gold pushed the curtains back with his cane in a swift, hard sway. Standing like some dark figure, standing upright like a pole was his spine, and staring intently, was the man indeed. 

“Ms. Bellerose?”

“Um, is this a bad time? I can come back la—“

“No, no,” he said, waving his hand. He lowered his cane and limped to the front counter. “I thought you were—“ His gaze shifted to the door. “An alpha.”

“Oh. Well.” She discreetly scented the air. It smelled more like an alpha than Mr. Gold did—at least, how he smelled during the two times they spoke. It was an un-ignorable smell of sharp metal and zest, with undertones of the musky, blanketing scent of a mature alpha. To her interest, Regina’s scent mingled here too among the knickknacks that were Mr. Gold’s things, but it was faint. The mayor had been here, but not recently. “The mayor _did_ come in earlier. To the library, I mean.”

“Did she, now?” He asked absently.

“She marked me, actually. There were a lot of alphas, today.” She laughed. “Lots of control-hungry alphas.” Thinking fast, she added, “Can you smell it on me? Someone said I did,” she lied. The more she acted like a normal beta with an inability to smell A or O pheromones, the better.

Mr. Gold’s nose flared. In anger or scenting, she didn’t know.

“Like a compost pile.”

Belle flinched, but tried not to let it show.

“Forgive me,” he said softly, taking a step closer. “It’s been a trying day.”

“I can sympathize,” she said with a watery smile. “Have you been a pawnbroker long? You must have seen some amazing things.”

He managed to give her a rueful smile. “Perhaps.” Turning on a well-polished shoe, he crooned, “Would you like to see?”

“Oh, yes!”

In the end she left Mr. Gold’s shop when the sun had long since set. She went home with a dreamy smile on her face and a starry-eyed look. Even waltzing through her flat’s door the smile on her stayed.

He was a gentleman. A true gentleman, and unlike any alpha she had ever met. Not once did he try to force her into submission, nor rub himself against her to mark her. The man kept a respectful distance from her and barely did more than brush against her in passing. He hadn’t even attempted to remind her she stood on his territory. But besides those wonderful kudo points for him, Mr. Gold could speak all day about trash and she’d have every ounce of her attention on him. His accent alone drew her in, besides the enchanting things he told her about.

Belle sighed happily as she stepped out of her clothing. Before she went to bed she had to throw her outfit into the washer to get the alpha pheromones out. And a bath.

But as she was unbuttoning her blouse, she paused and scented her surroundings. She did smell alpha, but it wasn’t Regina’s or even Victor’s. 

It was Mr. Gold’s.

And she was soaked in it.


	2. Part II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For all my lovely readers who know little of the A/B/O dynamics:
> 
> The A/B/O Dynamic is a fanfiction trope that’s pretty much about weird biology and hierarchy. 
> 
> Alphas are at the top of the food chain. The top-dogs. The leaders. They’re naturally wired to be in control, to be protective, and to lead. Like a male animal they also have a desire to have offspring, and might feel threatened or challenged by the presence of other alphas. Male alphas typically have something called a “knot” (aka the “bulbus glandis”) that forms at the base of their penis. Canines do this. The knot is a gland that swells right at ejaculation. This will “lock”, or “knot” them to their partner for a certain amount of time—it can last anywhere between ten to forty minutes. Alphas also have a very high sperm count. In regards to the female alpha, fics can get very colorful in several different ways. For story reasons, I won't be going into detail about the female alpha biology.
> 
> Betas are in the middle. They’re sadly not focused on too much regarding this trope, given that they don’t have extremities like alphas or omegas. Some writers will nix betas out all together or give them their own special attributes. But to give the beta a basic description, especially in my universe, they’re just normal humans.
> 
> Omegas have a very special role. Most times they’re considered to be at the bottom of the hierarchy, or so unique and rare they’re one step from being worshipped. Either way, the omega is the alpha’s opposite. The omega has a natural tendency to be submissive to others, especially alphas; sometimes they have a need to be coddled and nurtured. But omegas have a very powerful sway over alphas... Heats. Depending on how often an omega has their heat (estrus) varies significantly. In this verse it’s once a month. Heats stop temporarily once the omega is pregnant or menopause sets in. It’s also important to mention both females and males can be an omega. A lot of writers like to expand upon the fact that male omegas can get pregnant (Mpreg). 
> 
> Another major aspect about the A/B/O dynamic is mating and bonding. Some alphas and omegas can find their s/o with just a single sniff, setting both partners into a sex-crazed haze. Bonding occurs during or after the couple’s mating/fucking. In an alpha/omega bond, the alpha will knot their omega and bite upon their neck during heat. By doing this, the omega is bound to the alpha. Permanently.
> 
> ~.~.~
> 
> P.S.: editing is my weakness so suck it.

There was nothing Belle could do about Mr. Gold’s surprise marking. Posing as a beta, she should just go about her days with no worry. Alphas marked betas all the time for all types of reasons. She should act as if nothing was amiss. Even if it took two separate showers to get Mr. Gold’s scent mark off.

The weekend passed with quiet days reading in and sharing cups of tea or coffee with her friends. When Monday came around Belle didn’t actively seek out Mr. Gold, given that she was nervous about encountering him. She wasn’t angry with him. But she was confused. Was it that he was upset with Regina’s scent on her? Or had he scented her—she wasn’t sure how he pulled it off without properly touching her—to say that she was of his circle? 

Belle pressed her lips together as she thought over the curious alpha. He was a mystery to her; an enigma waiting to be studied and figured out. Mr. Gold was unlike any alpha she had ever met, yet there he went and somehow marked her as his. Why?

Wednesday came around with little to no activity at Belle’s library. It was past her lunch break, but there was no body in today. She sat at her desk, propping her head up on her hand, staring into an open book before her. Her focus was not with her. 

“Excuse me?”

Belle looked up with a jolt. 

Against her knowing it, a boy had managed to slip inside the library without so much as a sound. He was a young thing, no older than twelve, with a messy mop of dark (nearly black) brown hair atop his head. With big, hazel green eyes, he smiled at her shyly with a big book in his arms.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t notice you come in!”

“That’s okay,” he said softly, putting the book on the counter. “I’m trying not to get in trouble.”

“Trouble?” Belle gave him an affectionate smile. “There’s no trouble in reading, sweetie.”

“I know that. But my mom might get mad if she sees I’m gone.”

Belle’s heart skipped a beat. “Who’s your mother?”

“The mayor.”

“Ah,” she said with a serious nod, but rung the boy up once he handed her a library card—in Regina’s name. “Why would she be upset?”

“I’m kinda suppose to go home after school,” the boy said, frustrated. “But Mom’s too busy to take me here.”

Belle wasn’t sure what to say to him. Cautious by instinct, she took a curious sniff of the air. Children with the A or O gene didn’t present until puberty, but Henry didn’t seem like he was there yet. He smelled sweet with youth, and of apples and cinnamon. And something familiar Belle was unable to put her finger on. “What’s your name, sweetie?”

“Henry. Henry Mills.”

~.~.~.~

“I’m sorry, Belle, but I can’t send anything this month.”

Belle stared at the glossy bar of Granny’s diner. Her heart skipped a beat, fell into her belly, then threatened to hop out of her throat. With shaking hands, she gripped her phone to her ear harder. Ruby, singing lowly, shot her a short glance of concern.

“There has to be something,” she breathed, pulling herself away from her seat to take her phone call somewhere more private. The wind blew into her hair and scarf, flowing as she skipped out of Granny’s to stand outside.

Jefferson, her suppressant supplier, sighed on the other side. “I’ve got nothing.”

“But—“

“I know, I know,” he said on the other line, going a bit static-y as he fumbled around. “And I’m _really_ sorry. The shipment this month was really low, Belle—you and a few others got the unfortunate fate of being without.”

Belle hiccupped. “So, what? I should just go into heat and blow my cover?” 

“No, no! Just,” Jefferson paused for a moment. “Do you have anywhere to go for a few days to wait it out?”

“I live above my place of work.”

“Any friends with benefits?”

“Madden!”

“Ok, ok, geez. Just asking. Look, I’m trying to get more as we speak. The other meg’s are barking up my tree, too. Can’t promise anything, but you better be prepared to call in a few sick days.”

Belle pinched the bridge of her nose, pacing back and forth beside the fence outside of the diner. 

Jefferson had nothing else to add, and they hung up with a heavy cloud of doom looming over her. Belle hadn’t gone into a suppressant-less heat for years. There was no way to guarantee her scent wouldn’t be picked up by an alpha. Of course, it could be blamed on Mary Margret, but she knew Mrs. Nolan was pregnant with her second babe. An omega could always tell if another was pregnant. And omegas never went into heat during a pregnancy. 

She dropped herself down onto a picnic table’s bench as if the sky had fallen on her head. Possibly, Belle wondered, she could call Regina and ask for a few vacation days and go camping in some isolated place in the woods. But no. Belle wasn’t on the mayor’s good side right now, especially after yesterday’s encounter with her in regards to Belle’s paycheck. 

“Ms. Bellerose?”

Belle nearly yelped in surprise. Looking up, eyes sparkling with the tiniest bit of fear, she saw a most welcome face.

“Oh, you scared me!” She told Mr. Gold with pure delight in her voice, standing up to properly greet him. “I didn’t even hear you.”

“I see,” he mused gently. “Pardon me for intruding. You seemed a million miles away… Is everything quite alright?”

“Of co—“ Belle pursed her lips. She trusted the man, despite him being an alpha. He listened to her without condescendence. Taking a deep breath, she decided to trust him enough to vent. Just a little, anyway. “Well, to be honest, no.”

Mr. Gold’s brows pinched in concern. Hands folding over his cane, he bent forward as if to hear her more intently. 

“I just got a bit of bad news,” she gestured with her phone in hand. “I’ll get over it, though.”

“…Rather enigmatic, but I’ll accept that,” the alpha grunted once she didn’t explain more. “But surely you have friends to help?”

 _I wish,_ Belle said in her head. “It’s more of a personal matter, Mr. Gold.”

“Ah.”

Belle mentally shook herself. The last thing a male alpha would want to do was listen to some lower-hierarchy girl whine. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have—“

His eyes narrowed. The alpha raised a hand, his golden ring shining, in a clear sign for her to be quiet. “Don’t apologize.”

She smiled ruefully. “I’m sure you have more important things to do than listen to me complain.”

“I do, actually,” he said, shocking her in not a nice way. “But that doesn’t mean I want to do them.”

She flushed and fiddled with the ends of her skirt. “Well, I don’t want to waist your time.”

“You’re not,” he said, taking a few long strides to her. “I’d offer to buy you a drink, but your reputation will be indefinitely tarnished if I do so publicly.”

“Why, Mr. Gold,” Belle teased, rising to meet him. “Don’t tell me the most fearsome alpha in all of history has a tender spot for a simple beta.”

He flashed his teeth, eyes dazzling. And for a brief moment, ever so slightly, she could smell him as strongly as she did at his shop. “Who said anything about a tender spot, dearie? I could have an ulterior motive.” 

Her brows rose up comically, putting her hands on her hips.

“I’m talking about murder, Ms. Bellerose. My children-skin pelts don’t make themselves.”

And Belle laughed and forgot what she’d been worried about—even if it was for just a little while. 

 

~.~.~.~

 

Henry became a regular for Belle at the library. He always came close to closing time, after school, she imagined, but Belle didn’t dare rush her day along. The boy was a pure delight.

On a cloudy Tuesday afternoon, Belle was organizing some of her paperwork when the young Mills boy skipped in. It was much earlier than she’d ever seen him here, but she welcomed him in with a bright smile. He put his finger to hips lips and said, “Don’t tell anyone I’m here, okay?”

“Alright, Henry,” she laughed nervously. 

It felt silly that Regina would be so over-protective of Henry—sure, alpha parents, especially females, were viciously protective, but to deny a child the pleasure of a wee bit of freedom? It stumped her. But she kept her mouth closed, even after Henry told her Regina ordered him to always go straight home after school. If the mayor found his books, he admitted to lying by saying his teacher loaned them to him. 

Belle smiled at the boy with as much heart she could show as he approached the counter. “What’s it today, Henry?”

“Fairytales,” he said happily, dropping a heavy tome onto the desk. “I just read a really cool story about Beauty and the Beast.”

“That’s always been my favorite,” she commented cheerfully, ringing the book up. “What’s yours?”

“Snow White!”

Their conversations were typically this innocent. Today, though, Henry was on his toes with near-vibrating excitement. Before she could ask him, he blurted, “I’m turning eleven tomorrow.” 

“Aw! Happy Birthday, Henry! Planning anything special on your special day?”

He beamed. “My mom’s gonna make me a cake. Maybe I can hang out with my friend Grace.”

“That’s always fun—“

Belle was cut off as the library doors swung open in a whoosh of energy. Both Henry and Belle flinched as they turned to the furious visitor, only to have the boy blanch and clutch his book to him protectively. Belle felt the need to guard him, but managed to keep her body behind the desk—with just her arm to grasp the boy’s shoulder instinctively. It was pointless, though, for it was the mayor herself, trailed by—Mr. Gold? "Henry! I told you to stay near!" The mayor shouted, grabbing the boy by the shoulters. "He is just a boy,” said the Scottish alpha. Belle looked up to watch Mr. Gold calmly limp over, his sable eyes steady and watchful. “And boys will be boys. No harm’s been done.”

“Don’t tell me how to parent,” the female alpha snarled at the older male. Regina whipped her head back to Henry. “And I tell you these things for your own good! And yet you’ve deliberately disobeyed me!”

With his head down, displaying submissiveness, Henry said nothing as he continued to hug his book tight. Belle had seen enough, and shifting her gaze to Mr. Gold’s, who met her own, decided she had to step in.

“He hasn’t done anything wrong,” she admitted softly, keeping her ground in the face of the furious alpha mother. “He’s always been a good kid. He comes straight here after school most days. I’ve kept my eye on him.”

“ _What?!_ ” Regina yelled. “What the hell do you mean?” She glared down at Henry. “This is where you go after school? And not home? You’ve been lying to me!?”

The young boy began to shake in the wake of his mother’s anger. “But I just—“

Mr. Gold, observing the interaction between them, muttered, “Dearie—“

Regina ignored them both. “I should have you fired,” she threatened, approaching in a way that reminded Belle of a stalking cougar. “You knew he wasn’t suppose to be here, yet you served him anyway? What’s _wrong_ with you?”

Belle could barely speak. She had taken her last suppressant pill yesterday. Thought her special soups could hide her omega-scent, her ability to hold her ground in the face of a red-faced alpha had nulled. Much to her displeasure. “I-I—“

“Regina, really—“

“Stay out of this, Gold! Bellerose clearly needs to be reminded where she stands!” Regina marched behind the desk, grabbed her hand, and yanked her upwards. “I refuse to have a disobedient member of this town,” she snarled, and raised her hand to—

Suddenly, like a strike of lightning, Mr. Gold yelled, “ _ **Enough**_!”

The result of the outburst was instantaneous. 

Belle, taken aback by the sudden, dominating command, felt herself let out an involuntary whimper. Like a full-body slap, her knees went weak, buckling beneath her suddenly limp self. The mayor’s hand released her, letting Belle to fall backwards into her chair. Her heart beat wildly with adrenaline, burning her ears and face as a near-violent, demanding need to throw herself on the floor in mercy gripped her soul. Instinctually, she turned and lowered her head to the side to expose her neck in submission.

Regina, a powerful alpha herself, was not safe from the older alpha’s authority. To Belle’s amazement, she watched the mayor flinch as if physical hit as well, and cringe away from her as if ordered to. Mr. Gold let out another low, animalistic growl. It shook the very air. 

The mayor hissed, not keeping her face directed at Gold. “I know what I’m doing,” she whined.

Mr. Gold, having barely moved, looked on impassively at Regina. He set his cane between his feet, folding both expressive, lovely hands over the handle. He crooned darkly, “Indeed that is, dearie, but is this really nessisary? Just look at your son.”  
Both Regina and Belle turned to the boy, and found him hiding behind the fearsome older alpha, pale and frightened. “This isn’t how you want Henry to remember his birthday, do you? Striking a woman weaker than you?”

Regina’s nose wrinkled. She turned her blazing look on Belle. “No. But she—“

“Ms. Bellerose isn’t to blame. Neither should you punish Henry. Why don’t you give the boy some leisure on his birthday for once.” The alpha’s sable eyes fell over Belle, who sat frozen behind her desk. “He’s safe here. I’m sure of it. If there’s a problem, I’ll deal with it directly.”

“Don’t tell me how to parent,” Regina hissed through her clenched teeth. 

He tilted his head, apathetic. “Am I?”

Just like that, the battle between the two alphas had ended. Mr. Gold had relaxed all together as if nothing had happened, but Regina’s eyes burned with hate. Yet Belle knew the mayor had been trumped. 

“Next time, you never come here alone, understand?” She barked at her son. Henry nodded anxiously. Snorting under her breath, the mayor then turned to Belle. “If he so much as steps a single toe here, you call me immediately. Understand? If I hear otherwise I will not hesitate to take matters into my own hands.”

Regina grabbed her son’s hand and swept out of the library in a blur of black. 

When the doors closed, the atmosphere finally settled.

Belle let out a breath she didn’t realized she’d been holding. Meekly, she turned to the alpha. “A-Are you two acquaintances?”

“Unfortunately,” Gold sighed tiredly, walking with a graceful unevenness to a shelf of books on display. He ran a finger across the edge of the shelf. “I had to tag along after Madam Mayor found her son had run off.”

“Did he not have school today?” Belle asked, straightening a pile of papers on her desk, just to shake herself back to normalcy. After Mr. Gold’s little performance to bring back the peace, she feared of what he could do in a room with a serious problem at hand. If he could force her to submissiveness with a _small_ burst of his A-pheromones, what could he do in a real fight? Is this why Storybrooke feared him like he was Death itself? How strong of an alpha was he really?

“Yes,” he said. “Teacher conference day.”

“Oh.”

“As a result, the mayor had dear Henry stay in her office during one of her meetings…. You get the picture.”

She nodded thoughtfully, secretly touched by his tenderness for children. She wondered what kind of father he would be. Shaking the thought off, she asked, “And you came to help her look for Henry?”

He gave her an arcane smile. “She won’t admit it, but I have a better nose than her.”

“That’s why you thought I was an alpha last time! You smelled Regina on me!” Feeling a bit clever, she picked up her empty teacup from her break.

Mr. Gold let out a heavy exhale as he shrugged helplessly to the fact. “Both a curse and a blessing.”

She ran her finger around the edge of her teacup. “What,” she licked her lips, “what can you smell right now, Mr. Gold?”

The alpha smirked ruefully, but complied by closing his eyes. “You recently had Oolong tea. You had a turkey and spinach sandwich for lunch, with the crusts off. Rye bread. And you use rose-scented shampoo, with a heavy dose of omega heat suppressants.”

Belle dropped her cup.

“That one was a quip, dearie,” he mused, opening his eyes.

She puffed her cheeks out. Shaking her head, and not really amused by his joke, she bent down to get her cup. It had chipped right at the edge. “Oh, drat. I chipped it.”

Mr. Gold tilted his head to the side, watching her intently. “It’s just a cup,” he said softly, bending down with one hand on the handle of his cane to balance himself. He plucked the small chip up off the ground.

Belle felt herself blush at his closeness. Trying not to let their hands touch, she adds, “Let me clean it up, please.”

He waved her hands away, taking the chipped cup from her. A near-violent shiver ran through her body at his touch. “You’ll cut yourself,” said the alpha. 

“I broke it, so I should fix it,” Belle tried to reason with him, but he had already risen up, wincing from whatever pain he felt, given that he walked with a limp and a cane. 

“No need to fix it,” he frowned. “Just throw it away.”

“But I don’t have a lot of those.”

His brow pinched together. “Doesn’t the government pay you enough?”

“Regina pays me.”

He narrowed his eyes. “How much does she pay you?”

“Above minimum wage,” Belle said, bristling. 

His nostrils flared for a brief moment. His eyes darkened. “I’d ask you more, but perhaps that should be at a later date.” Mr. Gold turned to the library door. “And I’ve darkened your door long enough.”

“I’m not offended, Mr. Gold. I just believe what I make is my business.”

“But of course,” he nodded solemnly as he set the cup on her desk. It landed soundlessly. “Forgive me. Have a good day, Ms. Bellerose.”

“You can call me Lacey, you know,” Belle insisted, but he had already left.

~.~.~.~

Two days later found Belle at the supermarket. 

She was frantically trying to get enough goods to buy for her upcoming estrus cycle. Once the heat set in she could be unable to leave her flat, much less think clearly after the first day. 

The petite librarian hummed to herself as she jogged down the aisle with her buggy, grabbing things like ready-to-eat foods and water bottles. On a last minite thought, she decided to get some ice cream as well. It was sweat and cool. A welcome distraction during her time

Belle set her buggy to the side as she opening a freezer door to the tubs of ice cream. Already knowing what she wanted, Belle spied the largest napoleon flavor at the very top shelf. Why was it all the way up there? Why not at the bottom, where it could be easily carried, with less risk of dropping it on someone’s head. Shrugging, Belle reached up on her tiptoes only to see she was too short.

Grunting, she stepped onto one of the shelves to boost herself up. Now she could reach it…

“What _are_ you doing?” Asked a man behind her, askance. It was Mr. Gold.

“Getting ice cream,” she said with effort, one arm to grasp the handle of the tub, the other to keep her balance on the edge of the doorway. “Spring’s coming. Once it’s warm I’ll want this.”

“Yes, I see that,” he groused with a hint of disquiet in her tone. “But—“

It was too late. Belle, thinking she could use her balancing hand to help carry the tub down by jumping off the shelf, felt her shoe slip from the cold, icy ledge. A startled yelp left her lips as she went down as fast as rain.

Tensing, ready to be seriously injured, Belle accepted her accident and—

Landed in Mr. Gold’s awaiting arms.

He, however, lost his cane in the process. It felt down with a loud clatter, abandoning its owner and his ability for stability. The alpha, feeling strong and able around her, wasn’t so skilled in the standing department.

So they both fell.

“Mr. Gold!” She exclaimed, sprawled atop him on the cold, concrete floor. 

“Ms. Bellerose,” he grunted, in pain.

“I’m so, so sorry,” Belle pleaded, pulling herself up, hovering over his face. “This is entirely my fault.”

One of his hands, a bit shaky, came up to pat her head. “Quite alright, dearie. But, do you mind moving your knee…?”

Belle crunched her nose in confusion. All she could think was a million apologies and ways to redeem her clumsy self in his eyes, but his physical traits drew her in. In amazement, she found she could smell him very well with barely a few inches between them. Gold smelled like… like heaven. It was a difficult smell to describe, but she wanted to list things from clean laundry, damp earth, wool, zest, and the metallic tint of money. But among those things she smelled alpha. _Alpha, alpha, alpha…_

“Oh!” Belle gasped as she finally realized what he was asking of her. Her knee was, embarrassingly enough, jammed between his legs.

_OH MY GOD, I CAN FEEL HIS—HIS—_

She jerked her knee away as she scrabbled to get up from him. “Sorry!”

He grunted in response, eyes shut closed as if in even more pain than before.

“Mr. Gold! Lacey!” Yelled a new voice. David Nolan, unexpectedly, came bounding around the corner like a knight in shining armor. His blue eyes shined with worry, sneakers squeaking on the floor.

She knew him from his wife and mate, Mary Margret, and had spoken to him on several accounts in and out of the library. He was a very gallant alpha, always eager to help others. If Belle wasn’t an omega with a sharp nose, she would have guessed him to be a another beta.

“Are you two okay? What happened?” He demanded seriously, bending down to grasp Mr. Gold’s elbow. David made a clear attempt to hoist the older alpha up, but she saw the annoyance on Gold’s face before he reacted.

“I’m _fine_ ,” Gold said with a low growl. Immediately, David was trumped by the more influencing alpha’s sway. He backed off quicker than a rabbit.

“It’s okay, David,” she reassures the younger man. “I fell, but Mr. Gold caught me…” Belle bent down to get the alpha’s fallen cane. The handle still felt warm. “My fault, entirely.”

“It wouldn’t have happened if you simply decided asking for assistance,” he reprimanded with a pride-tinted sniff.

“I like to do things on my own, thank you very much.”

“Well,” David interrupted before anything could go sour between them, “I’m always able to help. What’s the proble—“

“Ice cream,” both Belle and Mr. Gold said in allusion.

They stared at each other for a moment.

“I seam to be a bit too small to reach the top shelf,” Belle laughed, nervously wringing her hands together. She tried to focus on something other than Mr. Gold, but her eyes pinned on his shiny black shoes.

“Aw, that’s nothing,” chuckled the friendly alpha as he hopped on over to the freezer. Gracefully he was able to reach the desired tub Belle had tried and failed to get.

David handed her the frosty desert with a smile. “Was this all?”

“Yes, thank you!”

“And as I said before, easily solved,” Gold said with a slow shake of his head, eyeing her somberly. “A lesson for any person below six foot.”

Belle sniggered unladylike. “Wouldn’t that go for you as well?”

The middle-aged alpha snorted. “I find that an extra limb helps,” he said, tapping his cane on the floor. “That is, without distressed damsels falling into my lap.”

“Oh!”

It was lighthearted moment between her and Gold, with David joining in as well, and the silly argument that threatened to rise was squashed with laughter and good humor.

But it ended the moment Gold suddenly stiffened. David, sharp as ever, followed suit and his whole body went straight as an arrow.

Belle’s nostrils flared to scent the air, immediately taken into concern by the alpha’s guards unexpectedly going up. She and the two males spun around as a man, followed by four others, approached with heads held high with ill-will shining in their eyes.

If she was a rabbit, her ears would have gone flying up in alarm. Because all the men were alphas.

The leader of the small gang, Victor Whale, was putting off a steady flow of authoritative pheromones along side his companions. With a snarl, he spat, “Gold.”

Gold, calmly stepping in front of the wide-eyed David and Belle, replied softly with, “May I help you gentlemen?” 

“Yeah, we got a bone to pick with you.”

Gold, not bending his head down, looked down to examine his nails. “I don’t mix business and pleasure, Doctor,” he said. Once he looked up, he adds, “Would you wait until I’ve at least purchased my groceries?”

Victor nearly barked with anger. “Don’t play mind tricks with us! You’ve been on your high horse for too long, Gold!”

“Oh?”

“I saw you the other day at the library,” piped up one of the other alphas, whose name Belle didn’t know. “You put the mayor under your order!”

David sucked in a heavy breath. Belle, having been witness to that ordeal, stayed helplessly silent as she watched the scene unfold and the guaranteed chaos that would come of it.

Victor and his fellow alphas were challenging Gold. Granted, if Belle hadn’t known anyone besides the basic facts, she would probably cheer for the challengers. But Belle knew Gold, and was a witness to the hierarchy breech, and stood shooting her eyes to and from the challengers to the challenged. 

Because Regina was mayor and an alpha, she was naturally the Head Alpha of Storybrooke. With Gold’s sway in town and his position, he was undoubtedly directly under her on the hierarchy list. But by forcing Regina under his thrall, Gold had set an example that clearly terrified the alpha population—betas, too, if they understood the importance of the hierarchy. Gold had shown that he was powerful enough to take down Regina. He _hadn’t_ , but it was openly obvious he _could_.

The challenging alphas cocked their heads to show aggression. Victor’s nose flared and scrunched up in a wolf-like growl. “We’re here to make you back down.”

“How precious,” Gold said so low that even Belle had a hard time hearing him.

Victor clenched his fists. “Take this seriously, old man!” 

“Um,” squeaked a nervous clerk with peeked from behind a shelf, a simple beta balding at the head. “Maybe you folks can take this outside?”

The clerk was met with several glares. Yelping, the beta ran off to put the closed sign up. Belle gulped, feeling trapped and cornered. She was definetly stuck here, in the midst of an alpha fight. She and David shared equally concerned looks. David, however, was clearly not in Victor’s gang, but wasn’t exactly Gold’s friend. Like Belle, he was more or less on the side of this.

“I suggest we do as the good man says,” Gold said through his crooked teeth, one shiny and gold shining in the light. “You boys will have to pay what you break.”

“Okay, that’s it!” One of the alphas roared with fury, breaking from the group like a bat out of hell. His shoes squeaked on the floors, feet fast as he charged the oldest alpha in the room, and his teeth bared with the intent to bite. Pheromones, ones that hit Belle like a cloud of stench, fumed with more strength by the second.

Gold was nothing in not weak. Gracefully, the older alpha sidestepped and let the youngster go flying into a set of shelves. It shook with the weight of the man, items falling off in a loud, nerve-wracking clatter.

But the fight was far from over.

Gold cracked his neck. “If a fight is what you wish, dearies, then I’m afraid I must comply.”

Another alpha stepped to the plate. “That’s big talk for a little man. You’re not even so tough—“ The words were hit out of his mouth. Literally. Gold’s cane came flying down upon the other man’s jaw, knocking the very air out of him. The entire room gasped and leapt back at how fast the landlord moved. 

“ _Fuck!_ ” the man whom Gold attacked yelled, dropping to the ground while clenching his jaw—which looked… out of place.

“That’s it—!” Victor and another alpha yelled, charging Gold like a pack of wild dogs.

Gold huffed. He showed his teeth. He flipped his hair back. And he—

Belle _fell to the ground_.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been able to show my true colors,” Gold said with such malice in his voice that Belle hardly knew who he was anymore. “But you boys will be reminded of my place.”

The alpha’s scent was nothing, _nothing_ , like anything Belle had ever smelled before. Much less felt. It was next to intoxicating with an intensive authority, permeating the air like a shot bullet in a silent room. Or mustard gas on a battlefield. 

Like dominoes, each alpha begun to whine and fall to their knees one by one, writhing on the floor begging for mercy. Out of the corner of her eye, Belle watched with shock as Victor rolled onto his back to show his submission. The only alpha to not do this was David Nolan. Because it was Gold’s unleash of dominance was not directed at him, or because he was not affected, Belle didn’t know, but she saw the blonde alpha only fall to one knee, eyes carefully watching the oldest alpha with sharp blue irises. 

The whimpers ceased like the air was stolen from them all once Gold barked out, “Silence!”

“Now,” Gold groused, slowly circling the floored alphas like a vulture upon dead pray. “You will pay that poor clerk the things you’ve broken, and apologize by helping to clean shop.” He snarled when one of the bell-up alphas tried to protest. “And, you will apologize to Ms. Bellerose and Mr. Nolan, who unwillingly had to participate in the little game of yours.”

David was given permission to rise at the older alpha’s nod. “It’s fine,” he said stiffly. “As long as no one was seriously—“ he looked to the alpha who’s jaw was twisted wrongly “—seriously hurt.”

“Right you are,” he adds, walking over with his uneven gait to Belle.

Belle had her hands over her head, quivering from head to toe.

It was a funny feeling, she was experiencing. Unlike other alpha’s attempts at scent-dominating, nothing had ever really swayed her. But then there was Gold. He had done that without breaking so much as a sweat.

When Gold reached a hand out for Belle to take, she found herself actually shaking like a leaf in his presence. His scent had clogged her nose and filled her brain, until the only words she could think of was, _alphaalphaalphaalphaalphaalpham matematematemate—my mate! Mine!_

When they touched, Belle let out a loud, ear-piercing whine. As if he had been burned, Gold let go of her hand and stared down at her with a broken mask of shock. His once snarling, demanding face melted away into one of bewilderment and… anger?

“You,” he began, reaching for her again when Belle gathered her wits to stand. Her whole body was out of sorts, her head pounded with pain, and her legs…

 _I’ve just hit estrus,_ Belle realized with another whine. Flinching from the alpha’s touch, she bolted away from the scene and flung herself out of the shop.

Besides her abandoned groceries and forgotten purse, she left behind Gold, who stared after her with disbelief written all over his face.

He had smelled her heat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the next chapter will be pure smut i swear


	3. Part III

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm not a master at writing smut, so forgive me for any awkwardness...?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> excuse the typos i'll try to fix them later

Estrus had officially set in.

It wouldn’t be an easy few days, Belle knew. She had been on the suppressants for so long that her body practically found the prospect of her estrus cycle alien. Her usual symptoms came back much harder than they ever had. Frustratingly enough, she didn’t even have all the things she would need to wait out in her flat until it passed.

“Urg,” she groaned, pushing two of her fingers inside of her slickness.

It was those damn alphas’ faults, she cursed mentally. If they just decided to keep their heads out of their asses, she could have prepared herself for this! 

Her body felt like it was on fire. Belle could feel her cheeks burn a million shades of red, and her scent glands on the sides of her neck itched and sweated profusely. Worst of all, the apex of her legs throbbed like a heart. Her vulva was swollen and ridiculously wet, dripping down between her bottom’s cheeks and onto the towel she had laid beneath her. 

The TV droned on with some old game show. She tried to focus on it, join in with the silly questions, all just to forget about how her body yearned to be fucked, knotted, and bred.

“Fuck,” Belle hissed, thrusting her fingers faster within her, until she reached a very unsatisfying climax. Exhausted, she dropped her hand on her stomach, smearing her slickness across her skin like clear, creamy finger paint. Out of self-pity she began to actually trace uneven patterns on her stomach with her copious fluids. 

She had no idea when she could return to work. She was lucky, very luck, that the mayor had (begrudgingly) allowed her a few sick days. Belle had lied that morning and said over the phone she had the flu and didn’t wish to spread it around. With a little slip of concern for Henry’s health into that phone conversation, Belle was given the leave.

“I bet Mr. Gold would give me sick days without forcing me to explain why,” she said ruefully. “I bet he’d knot me, too. Mhmm, and give me his seed—”

She froze. Was she really fantasizing about _Mr. Gold?_ Her friend?

Groaning, she rubbed her fingers down her dripping folds. She would admit any day that the man was definitely attractive. Though not traditionally handsome, he had a face that made her wonder how he kissed. His smile, too, was a weak point for her. And his voice… Belle shivered, fingering herself again. 

But no. She refused to indulge in those thoughts. For one, it was now obviously clear why everyone in town tucked their tails between their legs when he walked by. Or how he held himself with such ease, such genteel charisma, without having to present his pheromones.

And it was entirely possible he could be her True M—

 _Stop thinking!_

There was a knock at her door.

Like a douse of cold water, her whole body went tense. _Who the hell is that!? No one’s suppose to be here! How’d they even get into the library?!_

Holding her breath, she stared at the door for what felt like years. Another firm, insistent knock came but as before she ignored it. 

“Lacey,” came the voice of the last person she wanted to see.

Belle bit her lip. Well, she was lying to herself if she said she didn’t want to see the man. Her body, the traitor, hummed with the possibility of having him breed her. Having him say her name—fake or not—turned her on most shamefully.

“Please, open the door.”

“Go away,” she shouted.

“Lacey, Lacey, please. I’m not going to turn you in, dear.”

She didn’t believe him. “Good, so now you can go away!”

“You—“ he paused, “you left your things at the store. I’ve got them here. Just, just please, let me in.”

Belle scrunched her nose. It was unfortunate she had bolted as fast as she had, but hanging around had not been an option. Those alphas were far from friendly (besides David, and Gold, well, she wasn’t sure anymore), and having them know she was an omega, in heat, basically spelled non-con. But there was zero chance of Gold _not_ having scented her oncoming heat. He had a sharp nose, didn’t he? He’d proven as much.

But here he was, this mighty, fearsome alpha, begging at her door like _he_ was the one in heat, not her. 

“Why should I?”

“I want to talk.”

“Why?”

“Because—“ she heard, actually heard, him gulp. “Because I want to make a deal with you.”

“A _deal?_ ”

“Yes. Yes, a deal. And if you won’t let me in, well, just know I’m not the only one who smelled your true colors, my dear.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach. Oh, god. Was he lying? Was he telling the truth? What would she do, here and helpless, weak and feverish, while a pack of alphas sniffing at her door? Belle imagined the Big Bad Wolf and his whole bloody family trying to blow her home down.

She glanced at her naked lap. Even if Gold was being honest, why should she let him in? How could she trust any alpha while she was in this state? She could barely stand herself. But…She bit her lip again. Gold had never tried to take advantage of her in the past, so….

Her guard flew up like a string pulled taunt. To her horror, the lock to her flat’s door was giggled, tampered with, and jerked until—

“WHAT THE HELL!?”

“I’m sorry,” Gold said, pushing through the lock-picked door with hands full of rustling plastic grocery bags. “But in my defense, I asked before I came in.”

“I NEVER GAVE YOU PREMISION IN THE FIRST PLACE, PERVERT!” She screamed, grabbing one of her couch pillows and throwing it as hard as she could at him. At it flew midair, she didn’t hesitate to pull half of the towel beneath her bum across her lap.

Gold flinched as the pillow collided with his head. It dropped to the floor in a dull thud. Unmoved, he continued to stand there with his brows drawn together, and his mouth set in a thin, white line. With a twitching cheek, he says, “Those boys—the doctor and his pack. They smelled you. And they will come for you, would have come for you, if I hadn’t gotten here first.” Gold set the bags down in the kitchen, limping slowly over with little use from his cane. She watched him, fuming from the ears, as he set them on the counter. 

“I don’t need an alpha’s help,” she said, feeling unwanted tears threatening to fall. One thing she hated most about heats were that they made her ridiculously emotional. “I decide my own fate.”

“While that’s all good and a proud statement for the sake of omeganism, it’s powerless in the face of a horny alphas still wet behind the ears.”

“What about horny alphas that aren’t wet?”

“Then I believe their goal would be to make the object of their desire wet.”

Belle gulped, fingers clenching the fabric of her pillow. She still clutched it to her lap, but one hand slid under to feel herself. Her body was far from turned off from his brashness. 

Gold was moving again. Stunned, she watched as he pulled the things she would have bought from the store—water bottles, fruit, sugary snacks, pre-cooked frozen meals, sleepy-time tea, Tylenol, baby wipes, odor-absorbent air freshener, milk, and, most importantly, a tub of ice cream.

“Why?” She whined, watching the quiet alpha move silently about in her kitchen. The sight made her want to offer sex, but she beat those thoughts away. 

“I already told you, dearie,” he said most softly. “I’d like to make a deal.”

“What kind of deal? Why now?”

Belle had a lot of reasons to believe Gold was about to blackmail her into allowing him to sleep with her. Then again, she had been so fond of him before this morning that she would have trusted him with her future children. Gold had shown a side to himself that she had refused to see before, though. He was dangerous. At any given moment he could force himself on her and, in heat or not, she would be helpless.

“What’s your real name?”

“My what?”

“Your _real_ name,” he said, breathless. “Lacey isn’t your name, is it?” 

She shook her head. “It’s—it’s Belle.

“Belle,” he breathed, gasping the name as if it was a mantra. 

Gold let out a heavy sigh as if she told him he’d die happy. His face smoothed out, but there was clear and obvious stain still there. Once the alpha had put everything away, he snatched a handkerchief from his breast pocket and held it over his flaring nose.

Continuing to stare at him in disbelief and confusion, Belle sat there on her couch with mix emotions. Why was her name so important?

Unless, of course, his morally-pompous ass was planning on turning her in to her rightful place, which, by law, was with Gaston.

He sensed her anxiety. Carefully, Gold’s face went lax. “I’m not going to rape you.”

“I know that,” she said. “But I’m not going down without a fight if you’re turning me in.”

“Turning you in—“ Gold grunted with exhaustion tainting his voice. Quietly, the alpha sauntered into the living room until he was in appropriate distance from her. With the handkerchief still on his face, cheeks flushed a bit, and sporting the clear effect her heat had on his alpha-ness. It was a natural reaction, given that he was a perfect match for her biological makeup, and both of them being unbonded.

“You’re scaring me.”

“I know, and I’m sorry, but—“ he let out a shaky breath. “I need to know this. Where is your mate?”

“My what?”

“Your _mate_ ,” Gold suddenly snapped, causing Belle to jolt in surprise. “Obviously you have one.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but no, I don’t have one.”

Gold’s sable eyes narrowed. “That has to be a lie.”

“I beg your pardon?”

“It’s a lie,” the alpha said harshly, voice rising, “because if it wasn’t, you’d already be mine.”

~.~.~.~

“I don’t understand,” Belle whispered, more or less to herself, as she tried to wiggle herself into the farthest corner of her couch. Squeezing the towel over her legs, thoughts of varying types swirled within her mind.

What on earth did Gold mean, she’d already be his? She met the man not even two weeks ago! 

Gold took a staggering step forward. “You were meant for me,” he said with a low grouse. “From the moment I smelled you. On the cloth.”

“What cloth?”

“They sent me samples, from omegas. I—I got _you_ ,” cried the alpha, lower lip trembling. With shaking hands, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a small white square fabric. He reached it out to her.

Glaring with mistrust, Belle snatched it from him with full intent to not touch him. It felt warm and well handled, but it was thin and in need of a wash. She brought it to her nose.

It smelled like her.

“How—“

“My son forced me to,” explained Gold, sitting down on the couch across from her, leaning against the other arm to give her as much room as possible. “I was content to live alone, but he and his wife convinced me otherwise.”

Belle didn’t dare speak. 

Gold, to her surprise, had a son. A grown son, by the sound of it. Who was this son’s mother? Was Gold married with a mate, or just married? Had he bonded with an omega before? Was that why he was so calm? Why hadn’t Belle known he already had an omega? Oh god, was he one of those alphas who believed in having multiple omegas!?

The alpha, not looking at her, went on to explain. “I just—“ he gulped. “They told me you found another, more compatible potential mate.”

_Gaston…_

“He bought me.”

Gold’s head shot up. “What?”

“I know because I watched the transaction,” Belle said, feeling tension leave her body. “I hid in a closet while he offered a fairly big sum for me.” 

He shook his head, but his eyes were wide. “No, you—They said—“

Her last day at the System’s compound felt like a decade ago. She was so young and naïve then, barely over twenty. 

Lots of alphas came to the System compounds. Sometimes, usually against an omega’s knowing, the directors would take “samples”—swabs of their pheromones during estrus—to send to alphas in farther states. Belle never approved of this method, but until now she never knew it actually worked.

When she first moved into the System’s compound, freshly plucked from the safety of her Papa and childhood home, Belle was put into a room with another omega named Ariel. The redhead was always bubbly, even when Belle saw little reason why when the omegas, in Belle’s eyes, were treated like heifers for sale. 

Ariel told her once in every alpha’s life, he or she will sniff another person and _know_ they’re meant to be. “True Mates”, as she called it.

It sounded like a fairytale. Pure poppycock.

But it gave Belle hope.

And it blossomed as Ariel left with a charming alpha who was madly in love with her, and vise versa; and to further it, one of the directions said they had found an alpha who would be a near perfect match for her. She was estatice with joy, curiosity, and happiness at the possibility of finding her soulmate. Unable to help herself, she snuck into the directors’ office to find out who her future alpha was…

Her hope was squashed after she witnessed that nasty, over-confident alpha Gary literally buy her from the System.

So much hope for love.

But now, here, right across from her, was an alpha quite literally on the verge of tears. With a scent-sample cloth with her mark on it.

“Oh, Mr. Gold,” she cried, shocked to feel a rush of emotion burst through her chest and throat. A fat tear rolled down her cheek. “I never found anyone. I ran away from him.”

He brushed hair away from his face with a trembling hand. Tentatively, he reached out as if to touch her, but yanked his own hand back as if he thought it was a bad idea. Pressing his face into a firm expression, he asks, “Did he hurt you?”

She sniffled. “He never raped me. I wouldn’t let him.”

“But he _hurt_ you?”

Belle pushed her pillow to the ground, pulled the towel up to preserve some of her modesty, and scooted closer to grasp his arm. At the touch, both of them shivered.

“It was years ago,” she reassured him, placing her hand on his shoulder. “I’m here now.”

Gold bowed his head. His eyes were watery.

It was then Belle noticed how… unkempt he looked.

His tie was loose, and hung limply around his turned-up collar. His suit jacket was unbuttoned, exposing his vest and wrinkled dress shirt, which was unbuttoned at the top. She could see the space between his clavicles, and the light hairs gracing his chest. The poor man’s hands were clutched so tightly around the shaft of his cane that his knuckled were ashy white. His breath came out in short, nervous bursts, and Belle breathed it in. There was alcohol on his breath.

He was absolutely ridiculous.

And she loved it.

Gold dropped the handkerchief to his lap, taking a shaky inhale. “I should leave you,” he said, standing up. “It’s improper to be here, with you in…”

“Heat?” Belle smiled ruefully. With a jolt, she remembered her wet problem between her legs. Her couch was smeared with her slick already, her towel used to cloth herself, not catch her fluids. “Then stay.”

“ _What?_ ” Gold’s eyebrows shot up almost comically, but his eyes burned with a heat Belle couldn’t explain. 

“I’ve liked you since we met,” she explained, reaching out to tug him closer. “But you keep your pheromones so low that I didn’t know until this afternoon.”

“K-Know what?” His voice broke.

Belle gives him a shy smile, blushing with a rush of adrenaline and arousal. “I _really_ like you, Gold. And you like me,” she eyes his buldge. Grunting, the alpha turns his body away from her “So, stay with me. Sate me.”

He whined. “Sweetheart, do you hear yourself? We barely know each other. I should—I should take you to dinner first, at least, and—”

“I know enough that we’re more than just compatible,” she says, standing up. Her towel is dropped to the floor. “I’m an adult. I’m choosing this.”

He looked away from her, face flushed a shameful shade of red. “I know you marked me that day in your shop. And you protect me from Regina… Gold, I want you to make love to me, please. You started this in me.”

And oh, did he. His scent alone, unlike any other, drew out feelings she couldn’t explain, feelings that were too old and too primal to ignore. Her body, given a renewal of a sexual high, sung with the thought of him putting his hands on her. Gulping, she licks her lips and spins around, showing him her form. Hoping it pleased him. She wanted to mate with him.

“Belle, you—“ she heard him gasp. “God, you’re beautiful, love. But—”

She shot him a watery smile over her shoulder, tossing her hair back to expose her neck. “Then stay with me.” 

~.~.~.~

Gold’s lips slammed onto hers. Yelping in surprise, Belle felt the-- _her_ \--alpha whine against her mouth with the press of his kiss. She quickly recovered, though, and responding with an eager yet tender kiss. 

His lips moved in a wondrously skilled manner, sucking her bottom lip into his mouth as his top lip rolled against hers. A broken moan escaped her throat as his scratchy stubble tickled the sensitive skin of her face.

“Belle,” he whispered against her mouth. Both of his arms came to wrap around her back, holding her close. Thrilled at his boldness, she did so in kind and squeezed his shoulders. 

She gasped, “Please,” and bent her head to nuzzle his chest. He smelled so good, so strong, that it made her dizzy with want and affection. It felt like her heart would burst from her chest.

“I’m here, darling, I’m here,” Gold assured her, and kissed the side of her mouth with a firm smooch. “I’m not leaving.”

Unable to properly respond, Belle let him pull away for only a moment. She watched with tentative eyes as he grabbed the pillows and the towel, and the couch blanket, and shoved it to the floor. 

“Sit,” he ordered with a gentle, low voice that shot another wave of want through her. Nodding, she did as he said. Gold dropped his cane and crouched before her, scooting between her open knees. “Tell me if I hurt you.”

“You’re perfect.”

He sighed, and stretched his body to press against her chest. Lovely fingers came up to touch her collarbone, tickling her, but it forced out a gasp of exquisite pleasure as he reached her tender breasts.

“ _You’re_ perfect,” he breathed against her neck, kissing her like his life depended on it. “Darling girl, you’re perfect.”

Belle cried out. “Oh my god, please!”

“Patience,” he hissed calmly.

His hands grasped her breasts and massaged them in each palm, drawing out more sounds from her with each gentle touch. The man lapped at her neck and shoulders, growling softly in a pleasantly possessive way, yet still careful not to bruise or hurt her. It made her very soul sob.

Gold groaned against the skin at space between her breasts once he reached there. Slow, lustful kisses were placed on every inch of her heated skin, and she heaved hard as his mouth reached one of her pert nipples. 

“Hm,” he hummed, sucking her tit into his awaiting mouth. Crying out at the onrush of pleasure, Belle threw her head back as her thighs spread even farther apart. He didn’t hesitate to press himself closer to her.

Wetter than she ever was before, she ground her pelvis into his waist, feeling her fluids make Gold’s vest sticky and damp. One of his buttons pressed against her clit, making her cry out in a higher pitch.

He shuffled backwards. Whining in frustration, Belle shook her hips to try to lure him back. But she was rewarded, and nearly screamed as his nose brushed against her flush, leaking vulva.

“You’re ripe,” he fogged his breath against her privates. Again, she was thrown even farther down the hole of mental uselessness. All she really wanted was to feel him against her, naked. “And so, so wet. Tell me, my dear, is this your first time?”

“Yes!”

Gold shut his eyes. 

“Take me, Gold, take me. I—“

“Shh, shh,” he told her. Instantly Belle shut her mouth, but moaned against her clicking teeth as his mouth pressed a wet, messy kiss on her folds. His lips suckled at her flesh, noisy yet excruciatingly slow. It occurred to her that, though he admitted to wanting her, he wasn’t as desperate. If he was, Gold was damn good at keeping himself composed.

His tongue slipped out of his mouth and lapped at her entrance.

Yowling, Belle thrashed in her seat as her need to mate became so strong and so powerful, it came close to paralyzing her.

Gold licked at her like she was a delicate treat made for him, meant to be savored and sampled, not consumed all at once. The irritating man let out sounds of enjoyment as he tasted her, but never sped up in his actions. And God, did Belle want to come!

“Please!”

Gold’s nose wrinkled as he pulled away. The entire lower half of his face was _soaked_ with her juices, glistening in the overhead light. He heaved and panted, but sat there very, very still as he gazed up at her with eyes blown with lust.

They broke their stare and came crashing together in a messy kiss. Arms thrown around the other, teeth clacking in their fierce kiss, and clothes were ripped at and thrown to be forgotten.

“Gold, Gold, please,” Belle whimpered, impatient at Gold pulled away from her to calm himself. He gently laid her on the carpet, settling her head on one of the pillows. Eagerly, she spread her legs to give him a clear, unvoiced invitation.

She wanted him. God, she wanted him. But thoughts were cloudy and she couldn’t think straight to save her life. All that really mattered right now was them, Belle and Gold, and she didn’t give a damn about anything else.

She wanted him to put his seed in her.

“Are—are you sure?” Gold’s voice shook and broke in pitch as he crawled to hover over her, vest having been taken off, but his dress shirt was open and his lovely chest exposed to her. Ignoring his question, she brought her hands up to trace his small nipples. He let out a small growl, eyes shutting close. “I said—are you sure?”

Did all alphas ask permission first? 

Belle had no idea, but she didn’t have the patience right now. “Yes!”

“Belle,” her alpha grunted, reached down to unbuckle his trousers as he kissed her again. “You’re killing me. We shouldn’t—“

“Shut up, Gold,” she demanded, pulling at his hair. “I want you. Mark me. Bite me. Knot me. Please—“

Something far bigger than a tongue bumped her vulva.

“Fuck!” Gold yelled, his belt clicking as it came loose, trousers unzipped and pushed down to his knees. Kneeling before her, close enough that she couldn’t see his alphahood,

“Oh my,” she cried out, spreading herself wider to accept his girth. 

Slowly, carefully, most wonderfully torturous, the head of him pushed passed and between her folds. He gently nudged her entrance, teasing by dipping into the well of slickness and pulling back out.

“Oh, Belle,” he whispered, and pushed in.

It wasn’t what she was expecting. Her body had never felt anything bigger than her own fingers, but Gold—he was different. He trusted into her depths in one, slow move, breaking her barrier in a wild rush of pain and pleasure. Belle’s whole body tensed as it tried to accommodate him.

“Belle,” he said again, lowering himself to wrap his arms behind her shoulders. His forehead pressed against her own. “Belle, are you okay?”

“Yeah, just—give me a moment.”

And he waited. Fuck, he waited for her to get over the pain. What kind of bloody alpha was he? Here she was, laid out in all her submission, but he chose to let her recover before continuing. 

“When we met,” Gold said unexpectedly, drawing Bell from her thoughts. “When we met in the park, I wanted you.”

Belle was unable to speak as emotion stopped her voice. 

“Beta or no, I knew you were meant for me. I for you. Hell, I didn’t think you were—“ he groaned, dropping his face to rest beside hers. “—were the omega I was promised by the System, Belle, but—but I still wanted you. You were like a second chance… But you ended up being the same damn omega.“

“Oh, Gold,” Belle cried, running her hands through his hair. “I’m here. I’m yours. Take me.”

“Yes,” he gasped, and began to move.

~.~.~.~

“Gold, Gold, Gold, Gold,” Belle repeated in a frenzy, jerking her hips as her third climax started to peak. Heavy balls smacked into her bottom, sounding slick and wet and perfect as he thrust into her with abandon. She panted and moaned with loud noises she never knew she could make, but Gold was a quiet lover. He had his face against her neck the whole time, whispering her name as though he dared to so much as mouth it. Kisses were many in giving and getting by both. Drooling with indescribable pleasure, she pulled him away from her neck to give him a open mouth kiss of happy affection.

“I can’t—“ he moaned, his hips jerking as his gentle rhythm faltered. 

“Come in me,” she pleaded, squeezing her legs around him tighter. “Knot me, in me.”

He shakily nodded, burying his face back against her neck.

Her next orgasm through her like a catapult, coming in radiating waves as she shored and shored to the pinnacle of heavenly pleasure. Lights dotted her vision.

“Belle!” Gold let out a screaming whisper against her. The base of his cock was swelling, signaling his finish. 

“That’s it! Yes!”

“I—fuck!”

Gold threw his head back and let out a loud, alpha-worth snarl as his overpowering pheromones filled the room, her senses, and her mind. His knot swelled and swelled, making his thrusts harder to be completed. To her confusion, she watched him jerk back, pulling away from their close embrace, and made as if he wished to pull out.

But it was too late, and his knot formed and stuck within her. The muscles on the very edge of her vagina’s entrance, built for holding a knot, clenched and involuntarily clamped down on him, locking him inside. With a quiet cry, he fell back against her as he ejaculated into her womb in hot, thick spurts. It left her wonderfully, deliciously full and stuffed.

Both of their hearts beat wildly. A long, agonizing moment passed with his head pressed to hers, without a word spoken between them.

When she could get her thoughts out of the heat-addled gutter, she turned to him. Gold was already on the road to recovery, and wriggled his hips against hers to test his knot. He groaned as another round of come came to empty out inside of her.

Belle rasped, “Gold.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I—I knotted you—“

Belle stared up at him in confusion. “Yes?”

“Are you on the pill?”

Fuck.

“No…”

Gold gulped. With a pasty-white face, he leaned up to glance between them where they were joined. He looked applaud.

Like a douse of cold water had been thrown on her, Belle’s happy and sated haze vanished into one of anxiety.

“You regret this.”

“What? No!”

“Is having a baby with me really so bad?” Belle sobbed, still emotional from her heat. Yet she wasn’t eager to jump on the baby-boat either—with Gold or anyone. Before today there had been no thoughts of mating or being with child, or even going into heat so quickly! But she was suddenly very stressed and worried, and if she was going to break down and cry with Gold stuck in her, she’d give him equal hell. 

“No, Belle, it’s not that—“ he gulped, sweat dripping off the side of his temple. “We should have waited… Not, not jump into parenthood so f…”

“Do you not want me anymore?”

“No, I do, b—!“

“Then I don’t understand,” Belle hissed, twisting away from him. He winced as she pulled his cock in the process. “But if you’re going to be a prick like every other alpha, then I don’t want to understand, so you can get the hell out!”

He growled, grasping her shoulder to bring her back. “Belle, damn it, it’s not that!”

“Then what!?”

“My god!” Gold shook his head. “I’d heard omegas needed comfort after sex, but don’t be ridiculous! Just listen to me—“

“Ridiculous!?” She echoed with rising anger. “Me? You son of a—!“

He caught her hand before she could slap him. “I should have pursued you before this! I shouldn’t have jumped to the prospect of fucking you so fast! It’s not right, and unfair to you!”

She froze. “What?”

“I want to—I should court you properly, Belle. Not—“ he motioned between them. “Force you into being my mate. We haven’t even known one another over a month.”

Belle’s tears threatened to fall again. “You wanted to court me?”

“I tried to,” he said lowly, almost miserably. “What if you don’t even want me? There’s nothing more tragic than an omega unhappily bound to an alpha they don’t want.”

“Oh my—Gold!” She smacked his shoulder. “I thought you just want to sleep with me!”

“I do, but I also want to bond with you. If you’ll have me.”

“Oh!” 

She was crying. And she hating crying. Crying was an omega trait. But here she was, beneath her alpha and weeping tears of a thousand emotions. She threw her arms around him. 

“You crazy, wonderful bastard!” Belle laughed with joyous tears streaming down her face.

“I know,” he sighed, kissing her neck, right over her scent gland. “And if I don’t mark you, those alphas will fight me for you. And I refuse to shame you by putting my brat in you without a claim to it.”

“Gold! You!” Belle continued to place hyper kisses on his face. “Yes! Mark me!”

“Are you—sure?” Gold’s eyes watered, to her amazement. “It’s forever.”

“I’d have no one else.”

Gold gave her a gentle, sweet kiss. It was a lazy kiss, but she enjoyed it and pressed back as tenderly as he did, lips moving in a slow, loving dance.

And then he bit her.

Belle gasped as his teeth found her scent gland. He sucked the skin into his mouth, just a bit, and sunk his teeth into the small circular nub hidden beneath her skin. Her whole body froze up. To her brief horror, there was pain, and blood, and a short moment of blindness, but it passed quickly.

Then there was nothing but bliss. And she laughed, and laugh, and laughed, until she couldn’t no more.

~.~.~.~

“I don’t even know your name.”

The question came out of the blue, in the midst of their comfortable, loving silence as they lay tangled and locked on the floor of her living room. She didn’t think it was too comfy for him, but he tsked her worry away and petted her hair down to sooth her. It did, so she just laid her head against his neck and shoulder, atop him now.

“Rory.”

“Rory?”

He shrugged against her. “When I was born, my father said I was as red as a beat. Then I turned blue because I had a hard time breathing. Something with my throat—“ he scratched it, lost in thought. “Once they fixed me, apparently I did nothing but scream.”

Belle wrinkled her nose. “Rory… Didn’t expect that.”

“Hmm.”

“Hey, G—Rory?”

“Yes, my love?”

“What’s gonna happen to us?”

He went still. “I guess… We make the best of it?”

She smiled against his warm, sticky skin. “I like that.”

“Belle,” he said, adjusting her in his arms, “you know I’m not a good man. People will judge us.”

“I don’t care. You’re my alpha now. I go where you go.”

“But—didn’t you do all that stuff, changing your name and…” he swallowed. “Wasn’t it to be away from alphas?”

“It was, but that was before I met you. You’re perfect, Rory.”

“I’m really not...”

Belle sighed and swatted his chest. She felt him twitch inside of her, if possible through all the cum in her. It would be, without a doubt, very messy once his knot died down. But right now she didn’t care. 

“Okay. Fine. You might not see yourself as a good man, and I can’t really say so for myself since we met a week or so ago. It's just the townspeople that say you are. But I do know one thing.”

“Yes?”

“You’re good to me. And that’s all I ever wanted in a mate. But when I left Gary, I thought I’d stay single my whole life…”

“Then you fell on me.”

She sniggered. “Yeah. We fell together.”

And they were still falling. There was so much they needed to discuss and figure out that neither of them could barely shake a stick at it. People would ask questions, there would be the matter of Gary, if he should ever become a problem, but for now they were in the present. She wasn’t even sure yet if she loved him like a wife loved a husband, but marriage wasn’t on the table… Not yet, at least.

For now it was her, the omega hiding behind the mask of a beta, and him, the grouchy alpha of a small town that quaked before him. But he was hers.

And he was a good alpha.


End file.
